When I Buy Pictures
Marianne Moore (玛丽安妮.穆尔)
Or what is closer to the truth，
when I look at that of which I may regard myself as the imaginary possessor，
I fix upon what would give me pleasure in my average moments：
the satire upon curiosity in which no more is discernible
than the intensity of the mood；
Or quite the opposite—the old thing， the mediaeval decorated hat-box，
in which there are hounds with waists diminishing like the waist of the hour-glass，
and deer and birds and seated people；
it may be no more than a square of parquetry； the literal biography perhaps，
in letters standing well apart upon a parchment-like expanse；
an artichoke in six varieties of blue； the snipe-legged hieroglyphic in three parts；
the silver fence protecting Adam"s grave， or Michael taking Adam by the wrist.
Too stern an intellectual emphasis upon this quality or that detracts from one"s enjoyment.
It must not wish to disarm anything； nor may the approved triumph easily be honoured—
that which is great because something else is small.
It comes to this： of whatever sort it is，
it must be lit with piercing glances into the life of things；
it must acknowledge the spiritual forces which have made it.
购画时
译者 / 马祖毅
或者说更近，我注视着自己在想象中所拥有的画面，
我凝视着每时每刻令我欣喜之处：
可以清楚地看出，对稀奇古怪的讽刺，
其内涵并不在于情绪之强烈；
或者说全然相反——陈旧的古董，中世纪考究的帽盒内，
几只猎犬的腰围细如沙漏
因此他强烈感悟/循规蹈矩。就如同一只鸟，
随着歌声而成长，锻炼/其体魄而挺拔直起。尽管被囚，
仍放声歌唱，满足属于低等。
快乐是如何纯洁。这就是死亡，这就是永恒。
